SOM to move ahead with construction

UPDATED: 12:05 p.m. After clearing legal hurdles, the Yale School of Management has broken ground on its new campus.

Deputy Dean of SOM Stanley Garstka said in an e-mail to the News Thursday that a judge ruled last week against a lawsuit challenging the zoning requirements of the new campus, adding that the plaintiff confirmed he would not appeal the decision. In October 2010 the plaintiff, Joseph Tagliarini ’83, appealed the city’s decision to grant the campus a Planned Development District, which provides new zoning requirements that make way for the school’s new home. Now the construction of the campus — located on Whitney Avenue — will go ahead as planned, Garstka said, and there was an official groundbreaking ceremony last Tuesday.

“‘I’m disappointed in the outcome [of the decision], but it is what it is,” Tagliarini told the News Friday of his decision not to re-appeal. “I’m also a Yalie, and in that spirit I’m on board with appreciating and respecting what Yale has to offer this community. I tried to preserve the value of my house, but now i’m back on the Yale camp, so to speak”

Tagliarini ’83, a local dentist, filed his appeal to New Haven Superior court Judge Thomas Corradino, alleging that the building design did not fit into his neighborhood. The suit was against the city’s decision to grant SOM a Planned Development District, which allowed Yale to use different zoning requirements to construct the new campus.

“I do not want to seem overly aggressive to Yale,” Tagliarini told the News in October. “It is really the [building approval] process that we are irked by.”

Local opposition to the new campus began in December 2009, when twenty residents of the neighborhood surrounding Whitney Avenue signed a petition requesting that the City Plan Commission listen to their concerns about the building before approving the proposal.

“Our historic, beautiful neighborhood will be severely impacted by the proposed building,” read the petition. “We believe it is out of keeping with its surroundings and will adversely impact us.”

In response to these concerns, University Associate Vice President for New Haven and state Affairs Michael Morand ’87 DIV ’93 told the News in January 2010 that Yale officials met several times with residents and addressed concerns raised by city officials and neighbors. The Board of Alderman approved the plans in March 2010, after construction plans were revised to include more landscaping and walking space, and the City Plan Commission approved the plans that May.

The new plans also included three amendments designed to appease local residents, including one that granted pedestrians and bicyclists access to building walkways.

The new campus is designed by renowned architect Lord Norman Foster ARC ’62.